"When I'm not writing" with Sarah Cross + giveaway!

Today's guest post comes from Sarah Cross, a YA author. Her latest release is KILL ME SOFTLY, a dark take on fairy tales, available now. It sounds like a fun read and I'm pleased Sarah is able to visit us and tell us a bit about her non-writing life.

Keep reading to find out just what Sarah does when she's not writing and make sure to stick around for the giveaway!

I spend a lot of time writing. I'm one of those people who will choose work over hobbies (almost) every time, and who finds it totally reasonable when Anton Walbrook counsels dancer Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes that "Life is so unimportant." What can I say? Writing is one of those things that, if it wasn't more fulfilling than anything else, wouldn't be worth doing.

But while I may share the mindset of a ruthless (fictional) dance impresario, I don't write all the time. Sometimes my brain needs to recharge, and that's why my favorite non-writing activities take almost no effort, and could be accomplished by Hello Kitty or a zombie.

Here's a rundown of how I spend my non-writing time:

1) Watching TV. There's no better brainless pastime. Current favorites include Mad Men, Southland, Downton Abbey, The Big Bang Theory, reality shows like Big Brother and The Amazing Race, and the Korean TV show My Princess.

2) Taking walks, preferably in woodsy locations where there's a chance of spotting deer, hawks, interesting birds, chipmunks, rabbits, etc. I love animals, and seeing them in the wild is one of my favorite things.

3) Curating Fairy Tale Mood, my fairy tale art/fashion/etc. tumblr. To be fair to myself, a zombie would probably have trouble with this one. Finding good fairy tale art takes time, and, I'd like to think, a discerning eye. But it's a fun, almost meditative process, and it feeds my imagination like nothing else.

4) NFL. This is more of a fall/winter hobby, but during football season, I am obsessed, alternately cheering for my team and raging at them, and trying not to talk to my sports-indifferent friends about football. Because they don't care about how angry Tom Coughlin looked last week. And I try to respect that.

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Thank you so much for visiting us, Sarah, and sharing your hobbies!

For more information about Sarah and her books, check out her website or Fairy Tale Mood, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

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Here's the scoop on KILL ME SOFTLY:

True love’s kiss just may prove deadly....

Mirabelle’s past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents’ tragic deaths to her guardians’ half-truths about why she can’t return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.

In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who’s a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren’t pretty things, and they don’t always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy-tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy-tale curses of their own ... brothers who share a dark secret. And she’ll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns.

Read an excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

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Sarah is generously offering one (1) copy of KILL ME SOFTLY to a lucky reader!

To enter the giveaway, obey the Rafflecopter!

US/Canada only

Ends Monday, MAy 21, 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Do you guys have suggestions for who you’d like to see featured on the blog? If so, you can make your suggestions on this page. No guarantees that your favorite authors will be able to participate but we’ll try!

Authors, would you like to visit and share with us? Please email me at jennblogs (at) gmail (dot) com and we’ll set it up!

Posted by jenn at 07:39

 giveaway, Sarah Cross, When I'm not writing  72 People left their mark

Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jenn moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, eight years ago for school. She's still in school (thankfully on another degree!), now trapped in her dissertation. When she's not dissertating, which happens more often than it should, Jenn spends her time reading, watching movies, playing volleyball, travelling, and enjoying the local music scene. Her latest addictions: yoga and Almond Crunch cereal.